ISLAMABAD: In a move that is set to delay the local government elections in Islamabad for months, the Senate on Thursday passed the Islamabad Capital Territory Local Government Bill providing for party-based elections in the capital.

The bill passed with substantive amendments will now be sent to the National Assembly and then to the president if endorsed by the lower house in the amended form. Otherwise a joint sitting of the parliament would decide whether the elections would be party-based or not.

In anticipation of the legislation on the direction of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on June 23 had announced a schedule for the local government elections, setting July 25 as the polling day. This created a controversy as the decision to announce the schedule in the absence of a law was rejected as illegal by some mainstream political parties.

Fiery speeches were made in the parliament against the ECP and it was pointed out that even if a change of coma or full stop was made by the Senate, the bill would have to be sent to the National Assembly and the elections would not be possible on July 25.

Bill will be sent back to NA and then to president which would delay the elections

The ECP had already started the printing of 42 million ballot papers in accordance with the schedule and has still not withdrawn it. If the National Assembly adopts the bill as passed by the Senate, it will not only have to print fresh ballot papers and nomination forms but also initiate the entire process afresh.

When contacted, an official of the ECP said if a law providing for the party-based local government elections was passed by both the houses of parliament, each of the 79 union councils would have to be divided into six wards with one general seat in each. Under the law passed by the National Assembly, there were six general seats in each union council.

That means that the 79 union councils would be subdivided into 435 wards. The candidates would be required to be enrolled as voters in the ward where they would be contesting the elections.

The number of validly nominated candidates for the local government elections scheduled for July 25 was 3,833 and most of those whose papers had been accepted after the scrutiny process were aspirants for the general seats. He said a gigantic exercise would be required to see in which ward these candidates fall.

The official said many may fall in the wards other than where they had influence due to a large number of relatives and would require the transfer of vote. Under Section 20 of the electoral rolls act 1974, no addition, deletion or correction was possible in the electoral rolls after the announcement of the election schedule and the situation may lead to litigations, he added.

In reply to a question, he said even if a law was enacted before August 3, the next date of hearing of the local government election case before the Supreme Court, a new schedule was most likely to be announced around mid-September.

“It is for sure that the elections at the earliest will take place in the last quarter of the current year,” he remarked.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play